by Ms. Glenda Bell

Created on: December 10, 2009

All of us soon realize we can't stop the clock, but, that does not mean we can't still laugh.  My mother is 22 years older than I am, and trust me I am no spring chicken.  She and I have laughed over this many times and hopefully will continue to share in that laughter in the future.

A few years back while Christmas shopping, I saw some of the most beautiful poinsettia plants I had ever seen.  So, as I usually do around the holidays, I purchased one for my mother and one for myself.  I proudly walked up to moms door and was excited to see her reaction to the plant, I was presenting her.  She was so exuberant and expressed how beautiful the plant was.   As usual,she displayed it openly for all to see in her living room, calling attention to it, to anyone who walked in the front door.

Mom was never one to do much decorating after all of us kids were grown, but the plants always added that holiday Spirit to her home.  Through the weeks to follow mom continued to show the plant to everyone and comment on it every time I went for a visit.  I had never seen her get so excited over a poinsettia plant in the past. 

I was pleasantly surprised, as the holiday season passed, to see that she still had the plant, sitting on the coffee table in the living room.  She had already removed what few decorations she did set out.  I felt like a kid again. As children, my brothers and I always bought mother some little trinket from the local store.  She displayed them year round, for all to see.  She called them her treasures.

I left my poinsettia on my closed in front porch and yes it remained as beautiful as the day I had purchased it.  Something about the brilliant colors lifted my spirits, on snow covered days.  I thought maybe, that was the same reason mother still had hers displayed on her table, so I never actually asked her.

A couple of weeks after the New Year rolled around, mother came over for a visit.  I had gone to the back of the house and when I came back in, mother was watering my poinsettia.  She was commenting on how beautiful our plants had remained for so long.  She even stated that they had not lost one leaf.  I got to laughing so hard, I couldn't get out the words "what are you doing?".  She couldn't understand what was so funny, about her watering the plant.   I finally got to the point that I could gain composure long enough to tell her they were artificial.  She could not believe it, and kept telling me no, they had to be real, because they even felt real.  She then proceeded to tell me, she had been watering hers faithfully all holiday season.  She had forgotten, that I told her they were artificial, when I gave her's to her..

I must say, that even though the plants weren't real, they have brought more joy and laughter to both of us for many years.  It taught us both the valuable lesson, that things are not always what they seem.

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